Town Justice, Town of Clarence; Confidential Law Clerk, New York State Supreme Court, Eighth Judicial District

Jonathan S. Hickey has been a Town of Clarence town justice since 2019, re-elected in 2023, and presides over the town's Thursday criminal and traffic court⁷⁸⁹. A 2001 graduate of the University at Buffalo School of Law, he is a confidential law clerk in the Eighth Judicial District of the State Supreme Court and was a founding member of the Buffalo firm Burden Gulisano and Hickey, which defends product manufacturers and transportation companies; he also served as a Clarence town prosecutor⁸⁹¹⁰. He runs on the Republican and Conservative lines; Four 14-year Supreme Court seats in the Eighth Judicial District (Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming counties) are on the ballot and voters may choose up to four of seven candidates; two candidates, Michael L. Amodeo and Robert N. Richardson, are cross-endorsed by both major parties, while Bucki and Joynt run on the Democratic side, Tripi and Hickey on the Republican side, and Vario on the Conservative line only¹²¹¹.

• Town Justice, Town of Clarence, elected 2019 and re-elected 2023; presides over criminal and traffic court⁷⁸⁹
• Confidential Law Clerk, New York State Supreme Court, Eighth Judicial District, Buffalo⁸⁹
• Founding member, Burden Gulisano and Hickey LLC, Buffalo, defending product manufacturers and transportation companies; appointed a Clarence town prosecutor by 2014¹⁰
• J.D., University at Buffalo School of Law, 2001⁸⁹¹⁰
• Elected Clarence Town Justice in 2019 and re-elected in 2023⁸⁹. For Supreme Court he was nominated at the September 2026 Republican judicial nominating convention for the Eighth Judicial District and also holds the Conservative line¹⁶¹¹.
• Bar poll: Bar Association of Erie County Judiciary Committee ratings for the 2026 New York State Supreme Court candidates, released September 16, 2026. The committee is a 29-lawyer nonpartisan panel with no more than 14 members from any one party that reviews questionnaires, interviews and input from lawyers and judges; it uses a four-level scale of Outstanding, Well Qualified, Qualified and Not Recommended. The rating is a non-binding evaluation of qualifications and is not an endorsement. Rating: Jonathan S. Hickey, Well Qualified. Ratings in this race: Amodeo Qualified; Bucki Well Qualified; Hickey Well Qualified; Joynt Well Qualified; Richardson Well Qualified; Tripi Well Qualified; Vario not included in the release; the release also rates three other people (Christopher M. Pannozzo, Kenneth A. Szyszkowski and Peter P. Vasilion) who are not on the November ballot for this race³. No 2026 rating from the Eighth Judicial District Independent Judicial Election Qualification Commission was found; the commissions' ratings site lists no Eighth District ratings after 2018⁵.